Bereavement of a Beauty
by Gerkyhen
Summary: 'A scream. Mei turned'. Set after Season 2. R&R. Disclaimer: I do not own GF
1. Icy Roads

Bereavement of a beauty

'_A scream. Mei turned' When someone Mei loves dies, she doesn't know how to react. How will she deal with her loss and who will be there for her in her time of need? _

_Set just after Season 2. Hopefully will become epic with reviews and help from you gorgeous people. _

_Urgh I look a state_ Mei thought moodily to herself as she combed her hair through with her fingers.

From looking in the window she could already tell she had too much foundation on, that her hair was frizzing and the outfit she was wearing made her look fat…and it was only the start of the night.

"Mei, d'ya want a drink?"

Mei turned to see D'jok smiling at her, hand outstretched as he waited for her to deposit money there.

Everyone on Akillian were celebrating the win of the Galactik cup for the second time or in the Snowkid's case the end of one **long** season.

"Yeah I'll have a…" Mei trailed off as she realised her control freak of a mother was listening in, alcohol wasn't an option then.. Sighing Mei turned back to her boyfriend and shook her head, smiling sweetly. "Better not"

D'jok's smile faltered and he cast a quick glance at her mother before nodding and walking over to join Micro-Ice at the bar, no doubt to bitch about her mum.

Sighing Mei fell back on her chair with a plonk.

Her mother immediately shuffled up next to her. "Don't sit like that Mei it'll give you a bad posture and don't sigh so! You'll get wrinkles!"

_Natter, natter, natter _Mei thought.

"Smile Mei!" Her mother encouraged.

"Urgh! I'm going outside for air!" Mei announced before jumping up and making her way to the door.

The cool, moonlit night was in sight when Yuki popped up in front of her.

"Hey Mei what's up?" She enquired.

"Just trying to get outside" Mei replied, attempting to dodge past her friend.

"Cool, but it's really quite cold out there" Yuki warned her, still smiling.

"Good" Mei said before running out of the doorway.

To her annoyance she realised that Yuki was right, it was **freezing**, goose bumps decorated her skin as she shivered and held herself.

"Mei? What are you doing out here? You'll freeze to death! Get inside instantly!"

Mei clenched her fists in anger as soon as her mother began speaking, she was fed up of the constant orders! She thought it would stop after she'd told her off in her first year of footballing but it clearly hadn't made a lasting impact on her mother.

"I like it out here mum!" She said moodily, leaning against the icy railings nearby.

"How can you **like** it out here?! It's about…" Mei's mother's hands flapped wildly as she searched for a suitable enough temperature. "-78 degrees out here!"

Mei snorted. "Maybe I like it that cold"

"Oh Mei stop being ridiculous, come here" Mei's mother snarled grabbing at her daughter.

"Urgh! No mum, back off!" Mei shrieked, running down the icy stairs, she heard her mother calling for her.

Muttering insults under her breath, Mei stalked across the slippery road.

"Mei…"

**Crash**

A scream. Mei turned.

"Mum?" She whispered.

_Short first chapter, but please tell me what you think of it so far. _


	2. In the hospital room

Bereavement of a Beauty

_Woah that's the largest amount of reviews I've got in such short time and for the first chapter! Thank you reviewers, I'll try and live up to your expectations (if you have any). _

'"_Mum?" She whispered', arguments can lead to many things and more than once it has led to death… _

Mei spun on her heel once again, she had been pacing the waiting room for hours now just waiting to hear…**something**. Some news on how her mother was doing, she felt responsible…it was her fault, she had killed her mother.

"Mei sit down"

Mei turned to look at her father, he sat leaning forward on his chair, arms leaning on his knees his tired face sitting upon his hands, he looked pathetic.

"Don't you care?" She hissed, finally sitting on a chair across from him.

He sighed tiredly and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You know I do" he answered.

Mei hissed silently under her breath but fell silent, after a while she began scratching her palms, patience had never been her forte. "How long is this taking! They could at least give us regular updates" she growled.

"Mei…"

"No! I need to know, I did this, I need to…" Tears dripped from her eyes as she trailed off, she looked down at the carpeted floor, she noted a stain to the left of her, she scrunched her nose in distaste, tears still running like rain down her porclain cheeks.

"Mei"

Mei didn't look up, she heard the shifting of a chair as her father stood up and felt him sit down next to her.

"Mei-Mei"

Her childhood pet name, Mei looked up.

"It's not your fault Mei"

Mei closed her eyes but turned her head to look at him, she felt him rub her tears away from her cheek with his rough thumb.

"Don't stand in the doorway come in"

Mei opened her eyes to see D'jok standing awkwardly in the waiting room doorway, he smiled sadly at her.

Her father stood and resumed sitting in the seat he had been before in the exact same stance, D'jok fell down in the seat next to his girlfriend, he turned his head to look at her.

"Alright?" He asked.

Mei nodded her head then changed her mind and shook it, she began half laughing and crying, before falling into silence once again, tears continuing their endless race to fall like ice drops, D'jok looked at her a little confused then patted her awkwardly before slipping his arm around her.

Suddenly the door of the operating theatre opened, Mei, D'jok and her father all leapt to their feet, the doctor didn't look at them he walked towards them eyes pointed downwards he reached Mei's father and finally brought his eyes up to look at the estranged husbands face, he shook his head sadly.

"I'm…sorry Mr. Kilas…she didn't make it"

Mei stared at the doctor, eyes wide, a shiver ran up her spine…she had killed her mother, with a gasp of horror everything went black, Mei's head hit the floor with a large cracking sound.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Mei's eyes opened, a harsh light hit her, stunning her momentarily, she realised she was lying down so she shifted herself up into a sitting position.

"Oh…your awake"

A dead sounding voice from the corner of the room, Mei's eyes darted over to the source of the noise to see her father sitting on a pink stool…so they were in her room then. Suddenly she remembered what had happened, she remembered the doctor, the news.

"Mum…" she whimpered slowly.

"The doctor tried as hard as he could Mei" Her father said, he didn't sound right, he sounded robotic as if on autopilot.

"I know…I know it wasn't the doctor's fault she died" Mei's voice cracked and her body was racked with large sobs, her father made no effort to comfort her, he simply sat staring at the wall waiting for her to stop. Eventually she quietened down the sobs becoming slower and less frantic, she shifted in the bed to look at her father, he was staring at her pink walls but she could feel resentment coming off him like waves…suddenly it hit her, **he** was blaming her too.

"Da…"

"I'm going to the country club" He sighed before pulling himself slowly up and shambling out of the door.

Mei watched him go, the tears that had been shining in her eyes finally letting themselves fall once again.

_Hope you liked it…I have a narky feeling that they were OOC? Please tell me what you think??? R&R pleasey loves yoooo _


	3. Aftermath

Bereavement of a Beauty

'_**He**__ was blaming her too' _

After crying for so long it was natural for Mei to have a headache, moaning she clutched her head, pain replacing mourning for a few minutes.

After a few seconds she realised she was parched, she coughed croakily and advanced down her long fluffy staircase.

Mei's personal maid Danzee bobbed her head sadly as soon as she saw her. "Mistress" she whispered quietly, Mei nodded silently at her.

There was a mutual understanding between the two woman…they weren't going to talk about the death and that was that.

Mei padded into their large kitchen, she remembered with a pang that her mother had been so excited about updating their new kitchen. She made her way to their silver fridge grabbing a pink plastic cup as she did, she pressed the button that was supposed to eject freezing water but it didn't work, the fridge simply clicked and whizzed but no water was available.

Mei slapped the fridge slightly in annoyance, nothing happened.

Mei uttered a growl of frustration and punched the fridge again no reaction, finally Mei snapped; stress, nerves and mourning got the better of her, screaming she began punching the fridge as hard as she could.

"Mistress!"

Mei didn't reply she simply continued punching the fridge screaming, her knuckles began bleeding.

"Mistress!"

Mei felt herself being yanked away from the fridge by Danzee, she squealed in protest and tried to fight back but years of cleaning a large house had built Danzee up and she was a hardy woman so she tore Mei away with ease, she turned her to look at her and grabbed her by the shoulders, squeezing hard.

"Mistress, please calm down" She begged in her quiet, calming voice…well normally it was calming, Mei just continued weeping and shrieking.

"Mistress, it's alright…"

"No! No it's not alright!" Mei screeched. "I killed my mother! All she wanted to do was look after me and I just threw it aside!"

"Mistress it's **not** your fault! It was just a terrible accident, whose been putting these ideas in your head!?" Danzee demanded.

Mei hung her head. "No one put it in my head…I know it was my fault, it's just…"

"Yes?" Danzee asked, her chocolate brown eyes comforting and kind.

"Father agrees!" Mei gasped, tears once again screaming down her face.

"No, no" Danzee soothed stroking Mei's hair as she hugged her close.

Mei sighed and relaxed into her maid's arms, she knew her tears were soaking Danzee's uniform but Danzee didn't seem to notice, that or she didn't care. After around an hour the two broke apart, Danzee held Mei by the shoulders and smiled comfortingly.

"You ok? It wasn't your fault ok?"

Mei nodded slowly but tears kept falling, Danzee knew that she wasn't going to forgive herself that easily.

_She just needs time _Danzee thought to herself before wandering out of the kitchen.

Mei waited till she left then dropped to her knees, she picked up the plastic cup which had fallen to the ground in all the mayhem and then simply sat there staring at it.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Now obviously Mei will not be attending training for quite a while" Aarch declared addressing the team, he had wanted the Snowkids to start training immediately so that they wouldn't start slacking in fitness. Obviously Mei's bereavement was a terrible situation but it was also a big thorn in his side. "And I just want to let you know that, if at any time you feel sad or depressed…you may go and talk to Dame Simbai or skip training…I understand that many of you knew Mrs Kilas on a personal level" Aarch looked at D'jok. "So don't feel forced to attend"

With that Aarch left the Snowkids lounge, training was going to start in a few weeks after Mei's mother's funeral.

Aarch pinched the bridge of his nose, he was a compassionate man but he was also a world class manager and anything that interrupted his training schedule never failed to irritate him, he felt bad for being irritated at Mrs Kilas **dying **but he couldn't help it.

Meanwhile back with the Snowkids they were discussing the death.

"I still…can't believe it, I mean it's so surreal you know? I was only round their house a few days ago" D'jok said, leaning forward and staring at the floor.

"I feel so terrible for Mei, we need to see her immediately" Yuki said.

"No" Tia shook her head, she spoke quietly but everyone turned to look at her. "No Mei will want some time alone…when she wants us we'll be there, but for now…" she trailed off.

"Jesus" Rocket said shaking his head in disbelief. "Jesus"

_I needed to stop writing now cuz I only had 15 minutes left on my laptop O.o hope you enjoyed this chapter…the Snowkids reactions weren't very good so far were they? Well that's my opinion I want __**your**__ opinions!! _


	4. Breakdown

Bereavement of a Beauty

_I haven't updated for ages cuz I was camping T.T…yeah anywho I hope you enjoy this chapter __J_

"_No Mei will want some time alone…when she wants us we'll be there, but for now…" _

Mei slipped the silky black dress on, it fitted her perfectly but it…felt…wrong; why was she dressing up for such a terrible occasion? Why was everyone treating her mother's funeral like a celebration? A chance to dress up and show off? Mei's slender hands reached up and stroked her hair…it was long and fine, she was wearing it down for the funeral; her mother had always loved Mei's hair. Mei felt like she was spinning out of control; she hadn't realised until now that her mother had been the rock that had anchored her down. She suddenly felt scared; like she was drifting away and there was nothing that could stop her. She needed some control over her life! She turned and looked in the mirror again then slowly her hand reached out for the scissors -on her bedroom table- that she knew where there, she felt the warm plastic handle and brought them up to her face; she stared at them as if examining them.

"Control" She whispered as she held her hair up with one hand, the hand holding the scissors neared the lock…Mei heard the snip and watched the long brown lock of hair fall, coming to a rest at her feet, but it…didn't seem real, it didn't feel like it was her hair being cut, it just felt like she was watching somebody…she was a unnamed passer-by just…watching on the outskirts. Mei heard more snips and more hair fell, she cut and snipped for what seemed like hours in reality it was only a few minutes but reality wasn't something Mei was familiar with anymore…she still couldn't get her head around the fact that she…Mei had killed her mother.

With a gasp of sorrow Mei dropped the scissors and sunk back onto her haunches, she looked at herself in the mirror…her hair was short…very short at the back but her fringe and two chin length pieces of hair remained…hanging lonely at the front. It looked strange and Mei…Mei liked it because she **felt** strange, she didn't want to pretend she was alright with the way her mother had died: she wanted to weep and rock herself and hide away until all the ugliness she was seeing about herself and her father was gone.

"Mistre…" Danzee stopped by the door and gasped in horror. "Mistress what have you done to yourself!" She came rushing in, skidding to a halt next to Mei.

Mei didn't answer she simply stared into the mirror. "Look Danzee" She whispered, stretching out a finger and pressing at her reflection, Danzee stared at the mirror, confused. "Can you see my eyes? What do you see in my eyes?"

Danzee stared at her Mistress in horror, Mei didn't look up she stayed staring at the mirror, scrutinizing her reflection.

"I…I see a very grief stricken girl Mistress" She stuttered.

Mei looked up at her. "Really?" She asked with interest. "Hmm…that's not what I see…do you want to know what I see Danzee?"

Danzee didn't know how to reply so she nodded shakily.

"I see guilty eyes…I see someone who has killed…I see a murderer" Mei's voice cracked at the last word and she sunk into sobs again…this Danzee knew how to deal with: without a word Danzee knelt down and held Mei until the sobs began to quieten down.

"Mistress…Mei, you need to stop blaming yourself" She soothed as she stroked Mei's new hair.

Mei looked up at Danzee.

_She looks so pitiful_ Danzee thought sadly. _She's looking at me like a child would to it's mother_.

"I…can't stop" Mei whispered. "I can't stop blaming myself…all my mother was trying to do…all she ever tried to do was…help me…and that night I…I ran away and she chased after me…and if I'd only listened this wouldn't have happened! It is my fault!" Mei's voice grew hysterical and she started slapping herself wildly.

"Mistress!" Danzee cried grabbing Mei's bony wrists she forced her to look at her. "Mistress…please…maybe if…maybe if you go to this funeral you'll see that the only person blaming you is…yourself"

Mei stared at her, her sapphire eyes glistening with tears. "O…okay" She croaked; her voice tired from screaming and crying. "Yes" She stood and slipped herself into her high heels, immediately she looked taller…prouder, anyone who didn't know her would think she was fine that she was dealing with everything but Danzee saw in Mei's eyes the guilt and the sorrow that was haunting her and it hurt her unexpectedly it…hurt her.

"Right" Mei breathed. "Let's…go" then she strolled out of the room her mask already in place.

_I hope you liked it, Danzee's a wise old OC ain't she? (Btw she's about 25 so she's not really a motherly type usually). Hope you enjoyed it, any constructive critiscm will be gratefully accepted and of course reviews going: This is the awesomeness! (though I don't expect them)…thanks :3 _


	5. Funeral

Bereavement of a Beauty

"_I see guilty eyes…I see someone who has killed….I see a murderer" _-_**Guilt can do terrible things to the mind. **_

"Miranda Kilas was a hard working woman always pushing to be her best, she enjoyed the finer things in life but her generosity knew no bounds"

Mei stood -surrounded by sobbing family members- listening to the priest spout crap about how her mother was a: 'kind woman who never failed to lend a helping hand, a woman who even if it compromised her would help someone'. Her mother was nothing like that, her mother was a cruel, shallow woman who never took no for an answer and listened to no one, but Mei had still loved her; despite all her faults she had loved her with all of her heart.

"And now the family members would like to say a few words" The lying priest bobbed his head as Mei's father stepped up to the microphone, coughing slightly he began his speech.

"For Miranda and I it was…it was love at first sight…" His voice began cracking and he began trying to choke back the tears as he stared at the sheet of paper in front of him. "She was bubbly and intelligent and…and she would never back down from a fight" Mei's father smiled slightly at the memory but tears still flowed down his cheeks like a waterfall. "She was so beautiful that day I met her; with long brown hair and a gorgeous smile…so we went out and it…and we had a…a….connection…and a…a year later I asked her to marry me" He stared up at the ceiling for a moment before continuing. "And then eventually came…Mei" Her father turned and stared at her lost in his memories. "And…and Miranda was so happy, she just tried to live through Mei…all she wanted was Mei to be successful"

Mei stiffened as her father's gaze grew steely his mouth pulling into a frown.

"Even on her dying day all she was trying to do was…help"

Mei felt a tear fall from her eye and trickle down her cheek; her father had clearly told her what he thought: and he thought it was Mei's fault. Any doubts left Mei's mind…it was…it was her fault…she just needed forgiveness.

"Mei" The priest smiled gently at her and Mei felt all eyes on her as she walked up the aisle to the microphone- a few gasps were heard as people suddenly noticed her short hair, half hidden underneath her hat-. Her father stared at her hard before sitting in his seat in the front row and collapsing into silent tears.

"My mother was probably the…" Mei stared down at her sheet of paper the speech in front of her indicated for her to say that her mother was probably the 'nicest woman you could care to meet' but Mei didn't feel that way because those 7 words were a lie. Mei coughed and turned the sheet of paper over so that it was blank then raised her head to look into the crowd of mourners, in amongst the mourners she saw D'jok who smiled reassuringly at her, Mei felt herself smile back then she coughed again and began her speech, her **real** speech.

"My mother was probably the most determined woman you could ever meet" She said smiling slightly. "She would always be there for me…and I…I hope she'd still be here for me even after what I've…what I've done, I…I'm sorry for all the pain I caused you mum, I love you"

The mourners nodded and smiled sadly, thinking she was probably referencing to when she was younger and had been a pain or something mediocre like that. Her father on the other hand knew what she was talking about, he sat up blinking back the tears and as he stared at her a flash of anger crossed his face and he stood and left the chapel.

Mei stared after him tears running down her cheeks as she watched him fling the doors open in a rage.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"You okay?"

Mei turned away from her sobbing grandmother to see D'jok smiling sympathetically at her.

"I've been better" She admitted running her hands through the remains of her fringe.

"Shall we go outside?" D'jok suggested.

Mei nodded and let herself be led out into the cold Akillian air (they had decided to host the funeral on Akillian as her mother though not born here had always loved Akillian…well that was according to her friends and family. All Mei ever heard her say of the planet was that it was: 'too damn cold!').

D'jok turned to say something to her but was silenced by a sudden hug, Mei began sobbing into his jacket- the stress finally getting to her.

"Shh" D'jok soothed stroking her bristly short hair, he guided her over to a bench and collapsed onto it, Mei leant against his shoulder burying herself into him. "Why'd you cut your hair?" D'jok asked suddenly after a few minutes, Mei looked up and sniffed.

"I…I needed control over at least one aspect of my life" She responded then smiled at how pathetic that sounded.

D'jok took her smile as a good sign and grinned back at her. "I like it"

Mei fingered a strand of hair in front of her ear. "I'm glad someone did" She said smiling sadly. "…then again I don't think anybody likes **me** let alone my hair" fresh tears began falling.

"Hey, hey, what do you mean?" D'jok asked worriedly, he took Mei's chin in his hand and forced her to look him in the eye.

Mei's eyes slid to the side so she could avoid staring into the inquisitive green ones.

"I…killed my mother D'jok…I ran into the road to get away from her and she followed and…" Mei grew silent she stared at the floor, after a few seconds she risked a glance at her boyfriend; he was sat perfectly still, watching her. "You…you can leave if you want D'jok"

D'jok shook his head his voice deadly quiet when he spoke. "Mei…none of this is your fault"

Mei shook her head.

"Mei please don't be foolish…none of this is your fault I promise you"

Mei looked up at him. "But I feel so guilty" She whispered.

D'jok stared at his girlfriend, at her slight frame, at her short bristly hair, at her blue eyes overflowing with tears and felt an overwhelming urge to protect her, he felt such love for her that it shocked him, he grabbed her and stared into those tearful eyes.

"I love you Mei" He whispered before bringing her into a hug, Mei closed her eyes and decided to live in this moment, she felt…happy for the first time in weeks, D'jok cupped the back of her head in his hand and used the other to stroke large circles in her back, soothing her.

"I love you too D'jok" She whispered back, content…at least for the moment.

_That was like an ending…but sorry its not ended (the story I mean) :3 I hope you enjoyed review peeps __J _


	6. Waiting

Bereavement of a Beauty

_Thank you everyone whose been reviewing you're all awesome! And any ideas you may have you can put forward (I won't necessarily use them but I might!) Anyway on with the story_

_D'jok shook his head his voice deadly quiet when he spoke. "Mei…none of this is your fault"_

Mei sat on her bed staring at the door; it had been a two weeks since the funeral and life was slowly returning back to normal…for everyone else anyway, for Mei her life was still a wreck: Her dad hated her and she still felt immense guilt for the death of her mother…yeah not exactly normal.

Sighing she flopped back onto her bed; she'd been expecting D'jok an hour ago now.

Directly after the funeral D'jok had been the best boyfriend Mei could of dreamed of; he was supportive and comforting but never sappy or patronizing. But recently his calls had become less frequent…his visits scarce…Mei got the feeling that he just wanted to forget about the whole incident and that he wanted life to return to normal; with Mei playing the beautiful, happy girlfriend…but that wasn't possible, Mei wasn't happy, she risked a glance at the full length mirror on her wardrobe…and she certainly wasn't beautiful; her hair was bristly and uncombed, big dark shadows circled her eyes and her nose was red raw from sniffling and crying. Moaning slightly she threw her pink blanket over her head and lay quietly…pondering.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

KNOCK KNOCK

Mei woke startled to hear a gentle knock at her door, she threw the blanket off her and blearily looked out of the window…night. Had she really been asleep that long?

"Mistress? I have some supper here for you, you need to eat mistress"

_Danzee_ Mei thought to herself, a small smile reached her lips. Whereas D'jok had become less helpful and comforting, Danzee had remained the pillar of strength she'd always been, Mei had come to think of her as a friend not as a house keeper.

"Come in Danzee" Mei whispered, her voice had remained hoarse from weeks of crying and Mei was beginning to wonder if it was becoming a full time thing.

Danzee opened the door with her elbow and presented Mei with a tray; all of Mei's favourite foods where on it: Strawberry shortcake, 3 slices of toast, white chocolate mousse and a refreshing glass of water. If it weren't for Danzee Mei wouldn't eat at all, she just couldn't find the part that could be bothered to get up, get the food and cook it, so it was thanks to Danzee she wasn't starving.

Danzee sat at the end of the bed as Mei began to consume her delicious tray of foods, warmth in her eyes, she smiled in amusement.

"Slow down Mei you don't want to choke" She giggled slightly, Mei looked up and smiled.

"Yeah I guess you're right…Danzee what time is it?"

Danzee checked her watch then looked up. "It's 7 o clock"

"Oh" Mei stared down at her food, suddenly a thought occurred to her. "Danzee did…did D'jok stop by earlier?"

Danzee looked uncomfortable. "N…no Mei he didn't"

"Ah…right" Mei suddenly didn't feel hungry anymore, she pushed the plate towards her maid and smiled sadly. "Thanks Danzee but I'm not very hungry anymore" she said.

Danzee stared at her a moment then nodded before picking up the tray and going to leave…but she stopped by the door.

"We're gonna go out tomorrow Mei, we'll go see all your team mates train…I won't take no for an answer, so I want you to be up and ready at 9 o clock" And with that she left.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Brrriiinnng brrriiiinnnng

_Damn alarm clocks_ Mei sighed to herself before rolling round and smacking the offending item on the head, heaving herself up into a sitting position she stared at the clock: 8:30.

Mei yawned and stepped onto the pink rug, making her way over to the mirror she gasped, wh…why was her hair cut short!? Then suddenly it all came flooding back to her, why was she so stupid and forgetful!? This had been happening ever since the funeral, she kept forgetting and then remembering and collapsing into tears…it was a terrible routine that Mei had found herself trapped in, unable to escape from…just as she was sinking to her knees the door opened, Mei turned to see Danzee staring at her, her face riddled with concern.

"I…I forgot" Mei whispered, Danzee smiled comfortingly as she approached her, stepping round the sobbing teen she began rifling around in her wardrobe, Mei watched her too astonished to be angry or upset anymore. "Danzee what are you doing?" She asked after a while.

"Finding you something to wear Mistress…remember we're going to see your team mates train today" Danzee replied without looking away from the clothes.

Dread came crashing down on Mei like a ton of bricks. "I'm not so sure about that anymore Danzee" She began but Danzee was having none of it, she shook her head and threw Mei's favourite pink jacket at her, along with her favourite trousers and top.

"Mistress you've not been out of the house for a good two weeks now, I think the fresh air will do you good" Danzee smiled and walked to the door, she opened it and turned and smiled reassuringly at the other girl. "Mei I promise…it'll be fine"

Mei watched her leave and nodded determinedly to herself.

_She's right_ She thought to herself _Mother would think me a coward if I don't go today…maybe in a small way __**this**__ can be one of the ways I pay her back. _

Mei stood and wriggled out of her pyjamas and headed to the bathroom.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Mei and Danzee stood outside of Aarch's academy, Mei eyed the building with apprehension, she was more scared now than she had been on her first day here.

"Ready?" Danzee asked and without waiting for an answer she pulled the bereaved teen through the doors and towards the training area.

_I'm back from camping! Umm I hope you enjoyed this chapter, if you have anything to say, say it, obviously no flames but constructive criticism is fine __J_


	7. Sinedd

Bereavement of a Beauty

_Sighing she flopped back onto her bed; she'd been expecting D'jok an hour ago now. _

When the two women entered the training room Aarch was giving the team a pep talk, Mei shuffled behind Danzee slightly but Danzee shook her head at her and coughed…loudly. Aarch turned at the sound of the cough and caught sight of Mei.

"…Oh…Mei hello what are you doing here?" He smiled slightly.

_I don't know!!!_ Mei screamed inside her head, Danzee nudged her.

"Uh…I was…was wondering if I could watch you guys train?" She mumbled. _How pathetic does __**that**__ sound!?_ She thought to herself.

"She wants to get things back to normal as soon as possible" Danzee explained.

Aarch nodded and smiled. "Yes…yes of course Mei, of course you can"

Mei breathed a sigh of relief and shuffled next to him, staring down at the TV screen on the desk in front of them, Danzee smiled to herself before retreating out of the room.

"Umm now where was I?" Aarch asked himself.

"You were saying that we have to help each other" Rocket offered.

"Yes…yes thank you Rocket" Aarch nodded. "Yes use each other, you're a team so act like one!"

"Yes coach!" The team replied in unison, before Clamp closed the holo trainer around them.

"Who…Who are they against?" Mei asked quietly.

"We thought we'd challenge them" Clamp replied without looking up. "So we've programmed the Shadows in"

Mei nodded and stared down at the screen.

"Positions everyone!" Aarch shouted.

Her team mates moved to their usual positions, Mei noticed with a pang that Yuki was in her position.

"Hey what's a happening?"

Mei and Aarch turned to see Mark waving at them.

"What kept you?" Aarch growled.

"Sorry I got a little caught up" Mark replied, suddenly he noticed Mei properly. "Oh…uh hey Mei" he smiled awkwardly.

"Hi Mark" Mei said smiling back.

Mark nodded solemnly before sitting down against the wall.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

After an hour or two the Snowkids were finished, the holo trainer closed and the team emerged panting and sweaty. Tia rushed up to Mei straight away.

"Are you ok?" She asked as she pulled her into a hug.

"Never been better" Mei lied smiling.

"Come on, come talk to the team, we've missed you" Tia smiled, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her over to the group, D'jok sat on the steps and waved awkwardly at her when he saw her, his face expressionless.

"Hey guys it's Mei" Tia said, Rocket, Micro-Ice, Yuki, Ahito, Thran and Mark turned to her.

"Mei" Micro-Ice nodded at her, before staring down at his feet.

"How are you?" Yuki asked.

"I'm…fine" Mei responded, flashing her a smile for trying, which was a whole lot more than any of the guys were doing; they all looked extremely uncomfortable and seemed to be looking for any place to look but her, this was exactly what Mei **didn't** want, the feeling that she was different, that they were treating her different…it reminded her too much of the death and she wanted to forget that. After what seemed an age of silence Mei suddenly couldn't bare it anymore, she rushed out of the room.

"Mei!" Tia called after her, but Mei was gone, running down the long corridor to the cold air, even when she'd left the building she kept running, listening to the wind whistling past her ears, finally after a full fifteen minutes of sprinting, Mei came to a stop in an alleyway, she crouched down next to a dumpster and caught her breath. That meeting with her team mates had been everything she'd imagined and more…she just wanted to be treated normally for once! Sighing she stood up and started making her way out of the alleyway, may as well go home now…suddenly she noticed Sinedd, he was lying on a bench with his earphones in, eyes closed, completely oblivious to the world, a hopeful smile slipped onto Mei's face; if anyone was going to treat her normally it would be Sinedd! She rushed over to him, and tapped him on the shoulder, Sinedd opened his eyes and glared at her.

"What happened to your hair bimbo? You get into a fight with a pair of scissors or something?"

Relief swamped Mei's senses and she grinned wildly at him.

"Go away" Sinedd snarled before closing his eyes again.

Mei didn't leave she just stayed smiling, after about a moment Sinedd obviously realised she hadn't left and opened one eye to look at her.

"Can I **help** you?" He growled.

Mei stared at him…could he? Sinedd has also lost a…lost parents, nobody treated him like an invalid, in fact people were **scared **of him…**he** wasn't seen as some pathetic thing to smile pitifully at, Sinedd had closed both his eyes again this time, in some vain hope that if he ignored her she'd go away. _Yes_ Mei thought _Yes…yes you __**can**__ help! I'm fed up of being treated like a weirdo!_

"How do you deal with it?" She asked.

"Deal with what?" Sinedd replied, his eyes still closed, tone bored.

Mei stayed silent and stared at the floor…she…she just wanted to be treated normally.

"How do you…deal with a parents…death…"

Sinedd's eyes snapped open, he stared at her.

"How do you deal with people treating you differently…how do you deal with the overwhelming guilt that you couldn't do anything to help…how do you deal with the pain of missing them each and every single day?"

Suddenly Sinedd noticed how bad Mei looked; Her lips were chapped so badly that you could almost see where she'd been biting them and her eyes were red and puffy framed with black circles that signalled she hadn't slept fitfully for weeks, as he watched a tear suddenly came spilling out of these puffy eyes and rolled down her cheek, suddenly Sinedd felt extremely uncomfortable.

"Hey…hey don't…don't cry" He mumbled, standing up, suddenly Mei threw herself at him, burying herself into his chest; he smelt fresh and clean and Mei felt comforted, in the back of her mind Mei knew that this was Sinedd, the person who had brought much pain, misery and injury to her and her team, but right now none of this mattered to her, right now all she wanted was comfort…not an awkward glance not a watery smile just a warm comfortable hug, even as her tears began to stain his t-shirt she was feeling better.

Sinedd stared at her in horror, he checked around to see if nobody was looking then patted her slightly on the shoulder, Mei didn't respond in fact she hugged him tighter, growling Sinedd had had enough and he pushed her roughly away, Mei stared up at him confused and bewildered but…ah she had forgotten just for a moment that this was Sinedd and he had seized his chance and pushed her away, he glared at her his steely onyx eyes meeting her watery ones.

"You want to know how to deal with it?" He hissed, Mei didn't respond she just stared at him. "Stop showing weakness like that. If you get emotional and start crying your whole life will come crashing down around you…if you approach your stupid team mates weeping and wailing they'll never treat you as an equal…you need to become strong…lock away any stupid emotion and act like everythings fine cuz then eventually it will be…then again nobody cared if I was upset or not so it didn't really matter for me…but I didn't like being weak so I just…stopped. That's how you stop people treating you differently, **you **become **different **you become strong…as for the pain? It doesn't ever leave…it just numbs a little, the fire cools slightly but its always there…ready to flare up at any moment" Sinedd stared at her, his onyx eyes flashing before turning and walking away.

"Sinedd!" Mei called. "Sinedd thank you!"

Sinedd didn't respond.

_I hope you liked that chapter. Now does anyone have any suggestions? I'm open to anything. Review if you like, I hope you liked it. Pm me if you have any ideas or just leave it in the review box, love you!!! _


	8. Ice Queen

Bereavement of a Beauty

_Sorry for being away I was doing coursework :\ _

"_You want to know how to deal with it?" He hissed. _

"Mei pass to Rocket!" Aarch commanded as he watched his team demolish the holograms of the Wambas.

It had been two weeks since Mei's 'little talk' with Sinedd and she had taken his advice to heart; all she focused on now was football, gone was the Mei who would smile and laugh at nearly everything, gone too was the Mei who sobbed and sniffled, instead here was a cold, icy Mei who rarely spoke and rarely smiled. It had been a shock when she returned to the training room -only a day after she'd ran out- all suited up and ready to go, Aarch was glad to have her back as Yuki wasn't the best defender and they'd been struggling so he'd welcomed her back with open arms…but now he was wondering if that had been the best decision as he watched her dribble all the way up field and smack the ball into the net.

"Great goal Mei, but passing is essential" He encouraged.

"Hey well done Mei!" D'jok ran up to her smiling, his hand spread out for a high five but she simply looked at him and nodded, D'jok's hand fell limply to his side and he backed away to his starting position, a little disheartened. Mei knew he was offended but it was nothing personal…it was just she was sure that if she even tried to be happy, all the pressure and pain would seep through and she'd collapse…a broken heap on the floor, sobbing herself to death.

Aarch watched all this concerned, he turned to Dame Simbai.

"Have you noticed the way Mei's been acting recently Simbai? It's worrying me"

Dame Simbai looked up from the computer and nodded, frown lines creasing on her forehead.

"Yes" She nodded. "I doubt Mei has fully recovered from her loss…she should have given herself more time"

"She's acting coldly to all of her team mates Aarch, this isn't a good sign" Clamp interjected.

Aarch nodded then turned back to look at the computer screen, stroking his chin in concern.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

After an hour the holo trainer opened and the Snowkids piled out tired and sweaty.

"Good job guys, hit the showers!" Aarch smiled, but as Mei went past him he caught her by the shoulder, he watched until the rest of the Snowkids were out of the room then he turned to look at her.

"Coach?" Mei asked quietly, her croaky voice had become her normal voice now, making her sound very odd.

"Listen Mei, Clamp, Dame Simbai and I have been talking…and we think that maybe you should stop playing football for the time being…just till you get back onto your feet" Aarch squeezed her shoulder comfortingly but Mei glared hard at him.

"I **am** back on my feet, nothing's wrong with me anymore" She whispered.

"Look Mei…I don't feel…right letting you play for this team in your current emotional status" Aarch shifted uncomfortably and looked over for Dame Simbai for help.

"If your mind is not in the right mind set then your body will follow…you'll never play as well as you can if you don't give yourself time to recover" Dame Simbai informed Mei.

"I don't care" Mei hissed.

"Look Mei, I'm sorry but you can't play for us right now" Aarch exclaimed.

"Fine" Mei growled. "If you won't let me play for you then I'll quit the team"

Aarch, Clamp and Dame Simbai exchanged looks of disbelief.

"Didn't expect me to go that far did you?" Mei snarled. "So…what'll it be?" She began tapping her foot.

Aarch stared at her hard for a moment before hanging his head. "I don't want to lose a player like yourself…I know somewhere the Mei we all know and love is in there, I just pray to God she'll come out soon"

Mei's face crumpled for a second but she regained her composure quickly and nodded. "I'm glad you value me as such an asset" and with that she marched out of the room.

"Are you sure the Mei we knew is still in there Aarch?" Clamp asked as they watched her leave.

Aarch sat heavily down in his chair and rested his head between his hands. "I hope so Clamp…I hope so"

_Hope you liked that chapter __J R&R I love you all _


	9. Listening In

Bereavement of a Beauty

"_I don't want to lose a player like yourself…I know somewhere the Mei we all know and love is in there, I just pray to God she'll come out soon"_

Mei lay on her bed in Aarch academy lost in thought…She had actually threatened Aarch with leaving the team…**leaving** the team, the team she felt so happy at, the team she loved…the team where she was sure she'd experienced her first love.

Sighing to herself she rolled off her bed and onto the floor, slumped against the bed she fingered her growing hair, twiddling a strand between her fingers and staring at it cross-eyed. Ever since she'd came back to the academy she'd felt restless…not knowing what to do in her free time; it always used to be shopping, but now she didn't care at all what she looked like so it seemed a pretty stupid idea, it was always either shopping or hanging out with the team…but she knew they all saw her differently now and a few were actually pretty scared of her, Mei smiled to herself…**she** was scared of her. Sighing again she stood up, stretched and made her way to the shower.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

After the refreshing shower Mei's head felt a little less foggy, she was hungry and she was going to get food she had decided. Making her way to the door she stopped…she could hear voices.

"I'm not so sure Micro-Ice…that girl in there? That isn't Mei" D'jok's voice rang out clear as a day, Mei rolled her eyes, even if she hadn't been listening she would of heard that.

"C'mon D'jok we're her friends…I mean **you're **her boyfriend!" Micro-Ice exclaimed.

Mei closed her eyes and felt the cold metal of the door as she moved closer to listen to them speak about her.

"…I hardly think we count as that anymore" D'jok replied after a short pause.

Mei felt herself hurtling down a mental tunnel of horror…it was official. They weren't going out anymore…she'd known for a long time they weren't exactly a couple anymore but she'd been dreading the day when the team and D'jok would realise this too. Micro-Ice was silent for a moment but then finally he spoke.

"She's still our team mate…" He stopped.

"I'm going" D'jok sighed. Mei heard his footsteps fade away until only Micro-Ice was left.

_Is he going too?_ Mei opened her eyes and stared at the door…on the other side maybe the first team mate that was willing to speak to her properly. There was a long pause…the minutes ticked by and eventually Micro-Ice left to join his best friend.

Closing her eyes Mei slumped to the floor, her back to the door, a tear trickled out of her eye and she didn't bother to wipe it away…Mei was giving up, she couldn't be dealing with hoping people still liked her, sniffing she smacked her head back against the door and stared up at the ceiling, and that was where she remained for the rest of the day.

_Hope you liked it! Short I know sorry. Hey I need help! How many years is it for the Snowkids until the next qualifying matches would begin!? NEED TO KNOW! _


	10. Lie Here

Bereavement of a Beauty

_Thanks dudes for all your help, I don't know if the number of years is going to affect this story but it's always good to be on the safe side. I'm gonna try and make this chapter extra gooey delicious for you cuz the last one was a disappointment. Oh and in case any of you get confused, Mei's last name (in my story) is Kilas so Mr Kilas is Mei's daddy. So now without further ado Chapter 10 woop woop! _

"_I hardly think we count as that anymore…" _

Danzee watched from the doorway as Mr Kilas tippety tapped away at his laptop. This was the first time he'd been home in weeks and Danzee was making sure to be extremely careful around him -especially with matters such as Mei- in case he snapped. Suddenly he stopped and sat upright.

"How long are you planning on standing there watching me?" He asked in a tired, tight voice.

Danzee nearly jumped out of her skin, warily she took a step into the room, leaving the safety of the hallway behind her. Mr Kilas turned around and looked her up and down, distaste etched onto every line of his face. "Is there something you need or is that just your hobby?…Watching people" He glowered at her. Danzee straightened up and much to her discomfort met his eyes.

"I was just wondering if you wanted…dinner anytime soon?" She tried.

"No you didn't" Mr Kilas hissed. "What is it with you people? How fascinating can it really be to watch a grieving man struggle through life eh? You sicken me"

Danzee stared at him, eyes wide. "N…no sir I wasn't watch…"

"Stupid little bitch" Mr Kilas growled, he stood, he towered over the small housemaid, his fists clenched. Danzee stared at him in horror. Suddenly and without warning he grabbed her by the hair and yanked hard, Danzee shrieked in shock and pain, and tried to pull herself out his grip. But Mr Kilas was having none of it, hissing he grabbed her forearm -never letting go of her hair with his other hand- and squeezed hard, Danzee squeaked in pain. "Get out!" He commanded. "Get out! Get out! Get out!"

Danzee didn't have to be told twice, tears running down her face she rushed from the room.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

After D'jok's massive 'revelation' Mei hadn't been able to move; all through the rest of the day and the night, she had sat, back against the door, head permanently looking up at the ceiling…but it was morning now, Mei guessed from the faint light shining in through the curtains around four or five am…she had football training at nine. Sighing to herself she stood and stretched, her back felt like it was on fire but strangely Mei…liked it, it was distracting and Mei was grateful for any distraction from her disastrous life at the minute. Talking of pain her head was on fire too, Mei walked to her balcony and threw the doors open, cold air floated towards her, soothing her burning forehead, Mei surveyed the snowy roads below her and decided a walk was in order. Pulling her coat on she made her way to the exit from Aarch academy.

The cold air was immensely soothing to Mei has she walked along the icy roads, she passed the bench with the library behind it where Sinedd had changed her outlook on life and breathed in the icy air, gasping as the cold hit her lungs. Cold…suddenly her memories flickered guiltily back to her mother…her mother, she began pinching her palms as tears began falling again. URGH she hated crying!…But no one was there to see her so…so maybe just this once? The tears soon began to pile up and eventually they began to make her vision go fuzzy. _A distorted world for a distorted girl_ Mei thought grimly to herself, suddenly she slipped and she was falling, ice…hard and cold against her back…darkness.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Mei!?"

She knew that voice…if only she could place it.

"Mei oh God are you okay!?"

Mei's eyes flickered and blue met golden, Rocket was looking down at her, concern written all over his face as he held her head in his hands. Mei didn't know Rocket very well at all considering they were on the same team…all she knew about him was common knowledge and what Tia told her about him and that wasn't very much at all…all the same she felt an immense relief to see him, she smiled dopily and attempted to sit up.

"No no no" Rocket shook his head and gently pushed her back down. "Stay down Mei, relax for a little bit"

Mei attempted to nod but again Rocket shook his head, they remained silent for a few minutes, simply staring at each other before Mei felt the need to speak again.

"What's the time?" She croaked.

"About half five" Rocket answered after checking his watch.

"What were you doing up and about at half five?" Mei asked with interest.

Rocket blushed and looked away. "I…I like to have time to myself I guess…y'know reflect and…crap"

Mei grinned at his response.

"What were you doing?" Rocket asked after a moment.

"Just…reflecting…" Mei replied smiling at him.

"…I'm real sorry about your mother Mei" Rocket whispered.

Mei smiled again. "Thank you"

Suddenly Rocket's eyes widened and he suddenly began to sound urgent. "Oh crap your bleeding! Okay I'm just gonna ring an ambulance" he grabbed a phone from his pocket.

Mei grabbed the hand holding the phone and shook her head. "No…I like it down here, besides the ice's soothing my head…can't we just stay here? I mean…if you don't mind…"

Rocket stared at her for a few seconds, biting his lip before eventually putting the phone away and smiling softly at her. "Okay" He nodded. "We'll stay here"

_J I hope you liked it. Moar next chapter I swear. Now again if you have any suggestions for the way you want the story to go, I'm all ears, as I'm improvising with each chapter O.o ly G _


	11. Danzee's departure

Bereavement of a Beauty

_I really hope you've been liking the story so far, dudes, as you know I've been updating stories like mad recently X3 Now you just tell me if any of the characters seem OOC and I'll make sure to change it :D _

"_Okay" He nodded. "We'll stay here" _

After a few moments of silence, Rocket had gently laid Mei's head down on the ice and then without hesitation he had laid down next to her, staring up at the cloudy sky. Mei turned her head slightly to look at him and smiled.

"Hey Rocket" She whispered.

"Hey Mei" He smiled, glancing at her before his eyes darted back to looking at the sky.

The pair lay in silence awhile, letting the cold breeze caress their faces and feeling the hard cold ice soak through their coats.

"D'jok split up with me yesterday" Mei said after a while.

Rocket's eyes widened and he turned to look at her, rolling onto his side to get a better view.

"Mhmm" Mei nodded. "I don't blame him really…I couldn't have been much fun"

Rocket didn't respond and after a few minutes of silence, Mei began to felt unnerved she looked over at him and he smiled gently before slowly taking her freezing hands in his and rubbing them.

"Thank you" Mei mumbled as she rolled to her side, the pair looked into each others eyes and after a few seconds Mei pulled a face, sticking her tongue out and crossing her eyes, Rocket sniggered before pulling his hands away from hers and giving himself a piggy nose, the pair laughed and Mei wondered how odd they would look to a passer-by; just two famous footballers rolling around on an icy road laughing their heads off. Rocket sighed and looked up at the sky again.

"Shall we head back?" He asked, sitting up on his haunches, Mei followed suit and looked over at him.

"Yeah…may as well…what's the time now anyway?" She checked as Rocket stood, he checked his watch. "About sixish" he answered, before outstretching his other hand for Mei to grab hold of, doing so, Rocket pulled her up from the ground and smiled at her.

"The team'll be getting up then" Mei nodded.

"Well…everyone except Ahito and Micro-Ice" Rocket smirked.

Mei flashed a smile back at him as they began walking. _Where's this Rocket been?_ She wondered to herself _he's so funny and carefree_. Mei risked a glance at the captain who seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. _Tia's lucky, she must get to see this Rocket everyday_.

Soon enough they reached Aarch academy, they entered into the long hallway only to be met by Tia -still dressed in her pyjamas- holding a cup of hot chocolate.

"Oh…hello you two" She smiled uncertainly at Mei before looking questionably at Rocket. Rocket gave her no answer instead he wandered over to her cup of hot chocolate and dipped his finger into it.

"Is this for me?" He asked smiling.

Tia smiled at him and gave him a mock punch before grabbing his hand into her free one and nestling into him.

"…Rocket your all wet" She exclaimed.

"Yeah"

Tia and Rocket turned to look at Mei who coughed awkwardly.

"I slipped…and Rocket had to help me up" She explained…she didn't know why but she couldn't help feeling that the truth may have alarmed Tia.

"Ah. Are you okay Mei?" Tia asked.

"Oh I'm fine" Mei smiled, waving the midfielders concern away. "I think I'll just go change"

Tia nodded and turned away bringing Rocket with her. Mei watched them leave before heading to her room -Tia had changed rooms so that Mei could have more privacy in her time of need- to change, on the way she bumped into Yuki who smiled at her uncertainly.

"Good morning Mei" She said, her eyes taking in Mei's slightly ruffled appearance.

"Mm" And just like that Ice queen Mei was back; as soon as people started behaving awkwardly around her, she retreated back into the icy shell, because she didn't want to think about why they were treating her awkwardly. Sighing she grabbed open her door and as a parting shot, glared hard at Yuki before slamming it. Yuki stared at the closed door aghast, before making her way to the dining room.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Mei wandered over to her holo phone to see she had 10 messages from Danzee. _What on Earth?_ Mei thought worriedly to herself before pressing the redial button, after a few rings, Danzee's tear stained face appeared on the small TV before her.

"Mei?" She croaked.

"Danzee? What's wrong, what's happened?" Mei asked, her anxiety building as she watched a few tears slip from Danzee's -normally warm and brown- cloudy eyes.

"I just thought I'd call to tell you that I won't be working for your family anymore" Danzee choked out.

Mei stared at her in horror, Danzee looked down at her hands, slowly ripping a tear stained tissue.

"Because…because of me?" Mei asked, depression and panic beginning to engulf her like a tidal wave.

"No!" Danzee stared at Mei's worried face on the screen. "No! No! Never because of you!"

"Then…why?" Mei enquired, as tears began to form in her eyes.

"Your father…your father thought'd it best I leave" Danzee mumbled, her eyes not quite meeting Mei's.

Mei stared at her. "Tell me the truth Danzee" She muttered, her teeth were gritted now, what had her father done?

"N…no that's it…" Danzee lied. "I've got to go now Mei…I found a job on Genesis stadium…so I've got to be catching my train. Goodbye Mei, stay strong, I love you" and with that the screen went black.

Mei stared at it, miming the words 'I love you' to her dark reflection. It had been a long time since someone had said that…in any sense, and it twisted Mei's heart in confusion…the only person who loved her was now gone…Mei fell to her knees before the holo phone and stared past it, past the walls and away, becoming lost in her grief.

_Mmm hope you liked it? R&R I lave you xxx_


	12. Clones

Bereavement of a Beauty

_Umm hope you liked it so far. To be honest I wasn't planning any romance but obviously there will be flickering of…something which some of you spotted with Mei and Rocket. Anyway hope you enjoy this, and you better! As I'm up at half 11 writing this for you :D Nawh I love you all really (y)_

"_Your father…your father thought'd it best I leave"_

Mei had been kneeling in front of the holo phone for hours when suddenly there were two quick raps on her door.

"Mei? Mei Aarch sent me to tell you training's on in about 10 minutes" Rocket called from the other side of the door, Mei looked over at the door but didn't reply.

"Mei?" Rocket called again.

"Oh…okay I'll be right out!" Mei called back, faking a cheery tone.

"Cool! Oh and hey Mei do you wanna come out with me, Tia, Thran and Ahito? We're planning on going to Planet Akillian" Rocket explained.

Mei stopped short of pulling her training shirt on and looked over at the door. "O…kay" She murmured.

"Awesome" Rocket replied, delighted.

Mei sighed as she fastened her shin pads and made her way to the door.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

In the training room the mood was cheery.

"I have it on good authority that none of the other teams have started training yet" Aarch declared. "This is excellent news for us, that means that already we have had more training than everyone else!"

Mei sighed and rested her head in her hands.

"I'm going to put the holo versions of you in again" Aarch continued. "I wanna see all of your new moves…but as a team!"

Mei looked up in horror; she didn't want to see herself playing football while she was happy on the team! This could bring down the wall she'd protected herself with, **very** easily.

"W…we don't all need to play do we?" She stammered.

"Yes I'm afraid you all must Mei" Aarch nodded solemnly. "It won't be the same if your not on the pitch…that would ruin the entire formation"

Mei began scratching the insides of her palms, staring down at the cold floor as Clamp began programming their clones in, suddenly someone's hand touched her shoulder, she looked up to see Rocket smiling reassuringly at her. _You'll be fine_ he mouthed, before standing up and heading towards the Holo trainer, Tia watched him unsurely as he came towards her and Mei watched as they exchanged a few words, Tia pointing discreetly -but not discreetly enough that Mei couldn't see- at Mei.

"Okay, lets go" Aarch roared as the holo trainer closed up around the team.

"It's wonderful isn't it? Two of me" Micro-Ice grinned as the team faced up against their clones.

D'jok smiled at him and Tia and Rocket sniggered, Mark grinned and pushed him on the shoulder.

"It's more like a nightmare you mean" He joked.

"Mark feel free to leave anytime soon, we don't need you anymore" Micro-Ice shot back jokingly.

"Yeah but you'd miss me too much" Mark smirked.

Mei watched them, feeling lonely and excluded, though Yuki was right next to her, suddenly the girl in question nudged her.

"Do I really look like that?" She whispered, pointing at her clone.

Mei glanced at the clone then shrugged. "A little" She conceded.

Yuki looked over at Mei's clone and smiled. "You're so pretty Mei, I'd kill to look like you, you really suited long hair"

Mei glowered hard at Yuki; the word kill wasn't exactly her favourite word in the world. "I like it like this" she stated dryly.

Yuki blushed in humiliation and went back to looking at her clone.

"Start!" Aarch ordered.

The ball shot in the air and D'jok's clone headed it down to Micro-Ice's, who passed it behind himself to Rocket's, who was swiftly tackled by the real Rocket. Mei stood watching as her clone tried to tackle Rocket but to no avail, she felt light headed as she watched her clone blink with determination, never giving up on getting the ball, moaning in pain Mei clutched her head, then fell to the floor.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Mei!? Mei are you alright!?"

Somebody was grabbing her hand, slowly she opened her eyes to see -to her relief- Rocket.

"I think…think this is becoming a habit" She sniggered.

Tia glanced quickly at Rocket in confusion before looking back down at Mei.

"Is she okay?" D'jok asked quietly from the back as the holo trainer began to disappear around them.

"Mei?" Rocket asked.

"Mmm" Mei mumbled.

Suddenly Aarch was by her side. "Can you move Mei?" He asked, concerned.

Mei shrugged.

"What do you think Dame Simbai should we move her on to a seat?" The coach asked.

Simbai came and stood next to Aarch. "Yes…that's a good idea"

Aarch and Rocket nodded before gently picking her up and carrying her to a seat where she lolled her head back, smacking the wooden seat hard.

"Holy crap!" Micro-Ice yelped.

Mei's eyes darted around as she looked for Rocket, everybody seemed to be going in slow motion, motion lines blurring as they walked.

"Rocket?" She croaked.

Tia stared at her female team mate in horror, wondering why on Earth she kept asking for her boyfriend.

"I'm here Mei" Rocket whispered.

Mei's chest suddenly went tight and she started wheezing, trying to gulp in air.

"What the hell's wrong with her!?" D'jok demanded.

"I don't know!" Dame Simbai retorted, rushing to Mei's side. "She may have fainted due to stress, heat, anything and now she's having a panic attack"

"What do we do!?" Micro-Ice squealed.

"Well first of all you can stop fussing!" Clamp instructed.

"Everyone leave now! The training sessions over for today" Aarch commanded.

Dame Simbai held Mei's clammy hand in hers and put her other hand to her forehead.

"It's some sort of fever" She told Aarch as the rest of the Snowkids filed out. "But I've never seen these symptoms before"

"Maybe a stress induced fever?" Clamp suggested.

"I've never heard of one, but yes it's entirely possible" Simbai nodded.

"Will she be okay?" Aarch muttered.

"I don't know" Dame Simbai admitted. "The most I can prescribe her are some pain ointments and a lot of sleep"

"Okay…we'll leave her here for now…Simbai would you mind coming back here and waiting for her to wake up after you bring your ointments here?" Aarch requested.

Simbai bowed her head. "Of course"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"I swear this team gets weirder and weirder by the day!" Micro-Ice complained as he and his team mates stood in the elevator.

Tia stared at Rocket worriedly, she nudged him hard in the ribs. "Rocket?" She whispered questionably.

Rocket stared at her for a moment before smiling, gently he took her hand in his. "It's nothing, don't worry" he promised, Tia nodded slowly, but her worried eyes didn't leave his face.

"You alright D'jok?" Mark asked nudging the star striker.

"Yeah…yeah I'm fine" D'jok replied, before stepping off the lift with Micro-Ice.

Their team mates watched them leave before Ahito turned to Rocket and Tia. "Are you guys still up for Planet Akillian tonight?" He questioned.

"I don't really feel like it" Rocket admitted looking down at the dirty floor.

"But Rocket…" Tia began, Rocket shook his head.

"I'm going out for some air" He said, before stepping off the elevator and making his way to one of the many exits from Aarch academy, Tia watched him leave, worry and doubt flaring up inside of her like fire.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"You okay buddy?" Micro-Ice asked as he and D'jok made their way to their room.

D'jok stopped and shook his head. "No Micro-Ice…I'm…I'm still crazy about that girl but…she slipped away and it was my fault, I wasn't there enough…and seeing her in so much pain really…really hurt me" he admitted.

"Tell her how you feel" Micro-Ice suggested.

"I'm not brave enough" D'jok shook his head as he reached their room, pushing open the door he sighed. "I really wish I was"

_Hope you liked it!!! Ly =] G xxx_


	13. Planet Akillian

Bereavement of a Beauty

_Sorry I've been gone for so long…I had lots of work and stuff to do plus I've been feeling very ill and stressed recently…:\ anyway on with the story __J Seriously I LIVE for fan fiction…._

'_Moaning in pain Mei clutched her head, then fell to the floor' _

"Uh…? Where am I?"

Mei's eyes flickered open to see Dame Simbai smiling worriedly at her; a bottle of some sort of medicine clutched in her hands.

"You've fainted Mei…you've been sleeping for hours now…no don't try to get up" Dame Simbai pushed the teen back down forcefully making sure she was comfortable…_And no wonder she's been sleeping for hours, she still looks exhausted even after that_ Simbai thought, noting the large dark circles under Mei's eyes.

Mei's mind flickered back to the early morning…who was it she'd been talking to? Ah Rocket…she'd promised something…Oh God! Planet Akillian! Again the troubled teen tried to push herself up and again she was thwarted by Dame Simbai.

"Mei you're not well enough to get up, calm down" Simbai said gently.

Mei groaned and stared at the ceiling, trying to hatch a plan.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Tia knocked gently on the door, leaning her head against the metal as she tried to gather courage.

"…Come in" His familiar voice called from inside the room, taking a deep breath Tia walked in. Rocket was lying on the bed; still in his training gear, he was staring up at the ceiling, his eyes not even flickering to look at her when she walked in. "…Hey Tia" He mumbled.

"Rocket" Tia whispered; she was at loss as to what to say…so she resorted back to his name…his name which was such a sweet poison to her, sighing she sat at the end of his bed and stared at him, Rocket still kept his eyes firmly fixed to the ceiling. "Rocket…what's wrong?" Tia whispered, reaching out and stroking his arm, Rocket flinched slightly then sat up, he shuffled into a position next to her and smiled gently.

"Nothing's wrong Tia" He assured her, stroking her pale, soft cheek with his dark hand.

"Is…something going on between you and…" Tia stopped short of the name, barely able to believe that this question was even running through her head.

Rocket's eyes widened slightly then he laughed nervously, he moved her hair back behind her ear and smiled again. "No…no Tia, Mei just needed someone to comfort her…it was a total coincidence that I found her"

"Found her?" Tia asked harshly; she couldn't help herself, there was still something so distant about Rocket…she had lost him once to Netherball, she didn't want to go through that again.

Rocket looked a little bewildered by the harshness of Tia's words but he replied anyway. "She was lying on the ice yesterday…I couldn't not help her" He explained.

"Why where you out there?" Tia asked.

"I need some quiet time sometimes Tia…y'know" Rocket shrugged.

_No I don't know! _Tia thought desperately to herself, she couldn't understand why Rocket didn't feel as lonely as she did when she wasn't with him…how he could willingly walk away from her whereas she would rather die than do this, a wave of exhaustion hit Tia and sighing she stood up.

"Please come to Planet Akillian" She said turning to look at him, he looked up from his feet and into her desperate emerald eyes.

"…Ok" He conceded.

Tia smiled. "Great, we're leaving in 20 minutes, get ready!" And with that she exited the room, she was willing to pretend to be happy, if that meant she had him…even if she only had him in pretence.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Mei had been lying on the couch for an hour now, Dame Simbai watching over her like a hawk, sighing Mei turned slightly.

"What's wrong Mei? Are you in pain?" Simbai asked, concern etched over her face.

_Jesus was this the kind of attention Ahito got when he was ill? _Mei thought moodily to herself, she smiled up at Dame Simbai.

"Actually I was thinking about going back to my room…"

Dame Simbai raised an eyebrow.

"I think a hot shower would do me good…personally"

Dame Simbai considered for a moment then nodded. "Ok…but take it slow and if you have any problems tell me"

Mei slowly manoeuvred herself up and smiled warmly at Simbai. "I will" She agreed before stumbling out of the room. Staggering through the halls she eventually made her way to her room, grabbing her coat from the bureau she pulled it on and pulled it tight into herself, covering her training gear.

_Planet Akillian_ she thought determinedly as she made her way to the exit of Aarch academy, the bar wasn't too far and Mei was sure that the cold air would clear her head, she stumbled into the heavy snow.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Soon enough Mei had reached the steps leading up to the Planet Akillian bar, closing her eyes she marched across the road where the accident had happened and sighing with relief began making her way up the stairs, straight away she spotted her team mates: Rocket, Thran, Ahito and Tia… they looked like they were having fun, like they were enjoying themselves, Mei remembered the last time she'd seen Rocket; worry had been written all over his face…she was just a burden.

_Let him have his fun while he can_ Mei told herself before stumbling (she was still woozy from fainting and all the medicines Dame Simbai had given her) back out into the cold, making her way over to the ice cold bars she'd been leaning against on 'the night' she slumped down into a sitting position…unsure of what to do, she didn't really fancy going back to the confinements of Aarch's academy and to be honest the cold **was** helping her head plus while she was here she was close to Rocket whether he was aware of it or not, Mei smiled; Rocket was a true friend….if he was a friend at all…was he maybe something more? Mei let these thoughts run about in her head, embracing her dark desires for a moment -conveniently forgetting Tia- when a chorus of voices snapped her out of her daydreams. Looking up she saw a chorus of boys around her age making their way into the bar.

"I don't believe this! Mei?"

Mei looked uncertainly into the dark shadow of a group and saw Sinedd emerge, pushing a few of his 'friends' (read fans) aside.

"Sinedd?" Asked one of these boys, looking at the strange girl that was Mei and back at Sinedd.

"Go ahead" Sinedd waved his hand before crouching down in front of her.

"What the hell are you doing? I swear you're insane" He said as his 'friends' departed, with a chorus of: 'Drinks are on Sinedd!'

"If I'm insane go away" Mei hit back, before closing her eyes and resting her head against the wall behind her. She heard a shuffling sound and soon she felt the warmth of another human sitting next to her, she opened one eye and saw Sinedd reaching into his pocket and producing a lighter; a cigarette already in his lips.

"Why are you here?" Mei wondered aloud.

"Akillian is where I live" Sinedd answered, as if this was obvious.

"Okay…but why are you **here** here? Surely you'd rather spend time with your friends than with the crazy, loony girl?" Mei responded, closing her eyes again.

"Friends" Sinedd laughed as he took a long drag out of his cigarette, sighing he turned his head to look at her. "Meh you're a hell of a lot more interesting than those lot" he admitted.

"I'll take that as a compliment" Mei mumbled.

"Don't" Sinedd laughed, inhaling more smoke. "I guess I identify with you….your kind of a social outcast now as well…how's that going for you?"

"I've seen better days" Mei conceded. "Besides I'm not a social outcast…Rocket's been helping me out"

Sinedd was silent as he took another drag.

"Smoking's bad for you" Mei said after a while.

"So's sitting on an ice cold floor" Sinedd pointed out. "So's us to talking but here we are…doing it anyway"

Mei nodded. "Give us some of that then" she held her hand out for the cigarette, Sinedd handed it over and nodded at the door.

"Looks like one of your friends has come out to see you" He stated.

"Mei?"

Mei looked up.

_Hope you liked it. I personally don't think its very good. But I'd like your reviews __J__ Love G _


	14. Confession

Bereavement of a Beauty

_Am I the only one whose excited for the New year? I mean a New year means next season of Galactik football, hello? Anyway sorry I've not updated for yonks I had some Resident Evil stories to do but I could never forget about my first and favourite fandom Galactik Football with all it's beautiful people, now on to the story babes: _

'"_So's sitting on an ice cold floor" Sinedd pointed out. "So's us to talking but here we are…doing it anyway"'_

Tia looked down at Mei, her face a mixture of confusion, pity and…anger.

"Mei what are you doing here?"

"Smoking" Sinedd offered, Tia glowered at him and looked back at Mei.

"Why are you hanging out with **him**?" She questioned.

Mei simply stared at Tia, her expression blank.

"Mei I think you should go home, you fainted earlier, you're not well" Tia continued, looking uncomfortable.

"Ahoh! You fainted? You didn't tell me that" Sinedd muttered, smirking at the girl seated next to him.

"How's Rocket?" Mei asked, suddenly.

Tia stared at her, confusion riddled over her face, then realisation dawned and then suddenly anger.

"Stay away from Rocket" She hissed.

Mei recoiled.

"Rocket's mine. I know you've been through a lot and I feel for you but Rocket's mine, so stay away" Tia continued, her expression one that Mei had never seen on Tia's face before.

"I…" Mei faltered and looked hopelessly up at Tia, what was going on? It had been normal a few seconds ago…maybe a little awkward, but now here was Tia telling her to stay from her boyfriend.

"I know what you're doing. You're using Rocket's kindness as a way of getting into his head, your taking his pity and misinterpreting it as something else, you're using Rocket, you're using Sinedd" Tia growled.

"Hey"

Tia and Mei looked over at Sinedd who was glaring hard at Tia.

"Don't bring my name into this, don't blame Mei for grieving. Jesus your whole team is full of bitches, you just don't know how to react when it's not **you **who's suffering do you? You put across this whole goody two shoes act and make everybody think you're shy and sweet when really you're a possessive cow, now piss off and leave me and Mei alone" He instructed, flicking some of the ash from his cigarette at the white haired teen.

Mei stared at him aghast then looked to Tia who amazingly had tears in her eyes, she glared hurtfully at Mei.

"You don't know how stressful it has been watching my boyfriend grow ever closer to you!" She shrieked. "I've lost him once and now you're stealing him away again! Just because you're hurting doesn't mean you should hurt everyone else!"

"Tia?"

Mei looked over Tia's shoulder to see Rocket staring at the threesome in confusion, Tia shrieked in rage and Mei felt a sharp slap on her face, she fell to the side landing on Sinedd.

"Tia!?" Rocket shouted in shock, he rushed over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders. "What did you just do!?" He bellowed in her face, anger becoming evident.

Tia began sobbing loudly as she pushed Rocket away from her, she rushed down the slippery steps, tripping once and twice before disappearing from view. Rocket watched her go before rushing to Mei.

"Mei what're you doing here?" He questioned, he glanced at Sinedd and his expression hardened. "What are you doing with her?" He growled.

Sinedd glowered at him before stumping out his cigarette and standing up. "I'm leaving" He announced before heading off down the stairs.

"Rocket" Mei murmured dreamily, stroking his cheek.

"Mei" Rocket replied, grabbing her hand. "Why did…why did Tia just…do that?"

Mei smiled in spite of herself, she leant her head back against the wall and looked up at the stars, preparing for it all to come crashing down around her.

"She thinks something's going on between us" She whispered; now would be the time that Rocket would jump up aghast and would rush to Tia to tell her she had it all wrong, he would inform her that Mei was just crazy, that he didn't love her and that Mei was just obsessing and needed a blanket to cuddle in these times and he had been the blanket, but not any longer, not if Tia wasn't happy with this, then they would sit together and kiss…but this didn't happen instead Rocket shifted into a sitting position and began stroking Mei's hair.

"Well…isn't there?" He whispered back.

Mei's eyes opened wide and she looked up at him, he smiled sadly down at her.

"Mei…I've not loved Tia for a while now, we've just been…just been going through the motions really. And that day…that day we lay on the ice next to each other I realised I love you…" Rocket admitted, he stared up at the blinking stars.

"I…love you" Mei croaked.

Rocket stared down at her before smiling and kissing her on the forehead gently. "Don't push yourself" He instructed her.

"Rocket, Mei? What's going on?"

Rocket and Mei looked up to see Ahito and Thran staring at them in surprise and confusion.

"Where's Tia?" Thran enquired with just a hint of a challenge in his tone.

"Tia's gone" Rocket replied.

"…What?" Thran said, his eyes narrowing, he stared down at Mei.

"Mei hasn't done anything" Rocket said quickly.

"Well…we better go after her then" Ahito sighed. "It could be dangerous walking on the streets so late…there's icy roads and cars everywhere"

Mei stiffened…what he had just said had been very deliberate. He had deliberately tried to upset her, Mei could feel tears welling in her eyes at the cruelty of her team mate. Rocket watched them leave then groaned.

"Bastards" He sighed.

"Rocket…what are we going to do?" Mei whispered.

"About what?" Rocket wondered, he looked down at her and grabbed her icy cold hands warming them up.

"Us…" Mei trailed off.

"Don't worry" Rocket soothed.

Mei sighed; she wouldn't have been able to stop the worrying usually but here in Rocket's arms she knew she could.

* * *

Tia wiped furiously at the tears in her eyes…Rocket her own darling Rocket, the one she would go to the ends of the earth for was with Mei now, yet she still couldn't summon the rage to be directed at him, instead she thought of Mei; who had stolen her love away…with her pitiful trap. Tia stopped in the road and screamed loudly, letting out all the frustration and hurt, there was a beep, another scream…then silence.

_Um hope you liked it, a bit fast? R&R peeps _


	15. Lost

Bereavement of a Beauty

_Hey I was ill so I thought why not dish out a new chapter of BOAB? :D So ummm yeah, thank you for all the reviews and such now onwards: _

"_Us…" Mei trailed off_

"Oh Jesus! Are you alright!?"

Tia didn't reply she simply stared at the icy cold ground in shock, a hand touched her shoulder and she jolted before turning around.

"I'm sorry I didn't see you!" The man talking to her looked young- early twenties at the most, his bright green eyes were lit up with worry and his mouth was pulled into a frown, Tia noted with interest a scar on his upper lip, she turned so she was sitting and looking at him and shook her head.

"It's…it's ok, I shouldn't have ran into the road…I'm sorry" She murmured.

"I'm just glad you're alright" The man replied, sighing in relief before outstretching a hand for her to take. "Where were you going? You looked pretty…well umm" The man trailed off as he remembered Tia's screaming fest in the middle of the road.

"Mental?" Tia supplied, smiling sadly.

"Heh…um yeah, that'd be a good word" The man half chuckled, watching her nervously. Tia didn't meet his gaze; how was it that she had turned into the mental person? That was Mei wasn't it?

"Do you…do you need a lift anywhere?"

Tia's head snapped up and she smiled. "Yes that'd be nice" She nodded, the man smiled back and walked her to the car; it was big and black, clearly he was rich. As she slid into the seats Tia instantly began to feel warmth attacking her cold toes and arms.

"You must be freezing" The man said as Tia did her seat belt up, he pushed the car into gear and glanced at her. "Where do you need to go?" He enquired.

"Aarch academy" Tia replied slowly, her eyes set straight ahead, realisation dawned on the man's face.

"Your Tia! Tia of the Snowkids! Wow!" He gushed.

"Am I?" Tia whispered, unsure of that herself anymore; without Rocket who was she? She hadn't felt like anyone before Rocket and she didn't feel like anyone now she'd lost Rocket, a pulse of hurt rippled through her body and a tear trickled out of her eye as the man began driving to their destination muttering excitedly under his breath.

* * *

Sinedd sighed to himself as he stalked towards his apartment. _Stupid Rocket acting the hero_ He thought furiously to himself _We were doing just fine without him_. Sinedd sighed again; for once it would be nice for **him** to be the hero, Mei…Mei was something different, he usually stayed away from everybody…getting close was a weakness, but he'd never met anyone who had suffered through what he had suffered through…unbelievable but he had never met anyone who had lost a parent or parents. Whenever he saw Mei he wanted to protect her but Rocket was there…the knight in shining armour, Sinedd sneered to himself. What was he **thinking**!? Mei was just a weak, soft…Sinedd struggled with the word, he searched for an insult that would fit the girl but eventually settled on girl. No…no Sinedd wasn't going to let this obstacle get in his way…he would be heading back to the Shadow planet soon to start training and he didn't need distractions such as weak fools like Mei. Ripping open the apartment door Sinedd flung himself onto the bed and covered his face with a pillow…he had never felt this way before…weak…stupid…emotional.

* * *

Soft breathing reached Rocket's ears; he looked down at Mei and was surprised to see she as asleep, warmth and affection filled him as he took in her peaceful face…the first time he'd seen her looking peaceful for days…**truly** peaceful. He brought his hand up and brushed some hair out of her mouth. By looking at Mei he could forget his guilt about Tia…because he **did** feel guilty; Rocket wasn't the type of person who didn't care about people's feelings, he was very in tune to his emotions and he had never wanted to hurt Tia…never. Everything had just been so unexpected, his opinion of Mei was changed and he couldn't reverse this, he loved her and he couldn't deny this. Mei stirred slightly then blinking opened her eyes and looked up at him dumbly, he smiled and lifted her up gently to her feet, she stumbled slightly but he held her up, then the two began down the slippery staircase.

* * *

"Oh Simbai what sort of coach am I?" Aarch sighed, burying his head in his hands.

"Aarch you're a brilliant coach…anybody would find it hard to deal with a bereavement, there's nothing more you can do short of trying to talk sense into her…and I don't think that's possible really" Simbai replied, patting him meekly on his shoulder.

Suddenly the door burst open.

"Aarch, Ahito and Thran just called me; they say they can't find Tia anywhere!"

Aarch and Simbai stared at D'jok in horror; his eyes too were lit with worry.

"What!?" Aarch yelped.

"They say she ran away around an hour ago…they've been looking everywhere…there's no sign of her!" D'jok explained, he spoke quickly, clearly eager to begin searching for their missing team mate.

"Right get Micro-Ice, Mark, Yuki and Clamp please Dame Simbai. D'jok call Ahito and Thran and tell them to keep looking, if she isn't found in another hour I'm calling the police" Aarch decided before leaping from his desk and pulling his trade mark coat on.

"Right coach" D'jok nodded before rushing out of the room, Dame Simbai quickly following behind.

* * *

"You've always been my favourite player you know"

Tia glanced at the man uneasily; they had been driving along when suddenly he had pulled into a dark, deserted car park, now he was leaning into her, smiling dreamily; the scar on his upper lip stretching in response.

"…That's nice" She mumbled, her hand crept towards the car door, the man noticed and suddenly there was a clunk as all the doors locked. "What're you…" Tia trailed off as the man hoisted himself towards her.

"I've always loved watching you play" He murmured, his face was next to her neck and he sniffed deeply. "You smell as pretty as you look"

Tia stared at him in horror as he slowly brought his hand up to touch a piece of her white blonde hair, he handled the lock delicately as if it was precious, his fingers skimmed gently, he closed his eyes. He moved closer until he was on the same seat as her and she was pressed against the window, his hands left her hair and slowly skimmed down to her face, his rough hands stroked her cheek.

"Your skin is beautiful" He whispered. "So…soft"

"Get off me" Tia mumbled.

The man opened his eyes and his expression became stony.

_Hope you liked it _

_G x_


	16. Saved?

Bereavement of a Beauty

_Sorry for the long waits between chapters, but life sucks ya see :\ anyway hope you like this chapter: _

_The man opened his eyes and his expression became stony._

Tia squeezed her eyes tight shut in revulsion and horror as the man lifted her top, and, moaning deeply began gently placing kisses on her toned stomach.

She had tried to struggle, by God she had tried; but this man was way too strong for her.

He had her pinned in an awkward position where she was lying with her head by her passenger seat window, and her leg jammed painfully next to the gearstick and under the driver's seat.

Slowly the man's kisses began to go lower.

Tears began trickling out of the snow white haired teen's eyes and she tried hard to imagine Rocket was there instead of this man, but then she remembered; Rocket was with Mei now...even more tears began pooling out of her emerald eyes.

Suddenly without warning there was a smash and then the tinkling sound of falling glass; Tia opened her eyes just in time to see the man being pulled out of the car window, she noticed a flame of red hair.

"D'jok!" She whimpered to herself.

**Never** had she been so happy to see her red-headed, arrogant team mate.

The man fell to the floor and shrieked with pain as glass from the window cut him, D'jok hauled him up by the shirt and punched the man; his punch was so ferocious that as Tia watched a tooth came flying past her, followed by a smattering of blood.

Tia gasped in shock as she watched the man swing a punch at D'jok; D'jok narrowly dodged it and swung another punch of his own; his fist landed on the man's nose and there was a sickening crunching sound, shrieking in pain the man began limping away.

D'jok rushed to the car window and peered in at Tia who was sat curled up in the passenger seat; her shirt slightly up, with a look of complete shock on her face.

"Tia? Are you alright!?" D'jok demanded.

Tia nodded dumbly. "A little shocked...I...I...suppose" She murmured back.

D'jok nodded. "We were looking for you all over, c'mon let's get you back to the academy" He reached into the car, grabbed the keys and unlocked the door, as he was opening it he stopped and looked at Tia as if something had suddenly occurred to him. "He didn't hurt you...did he?"

His voice was shaking slightly.

"N...no" Tia shook her head.

D'jok nodded, before helping her out of the car.

She staggered slightly; the pressure of that **man** on top of her had been quite painful for her legs.

D'jok grabbed her elbow and steadied her, then the two began walking.

* * *

Sometimes coincidences can be terrible things: Mei and Rocket finished descending the stairs just in time to see Tia and D'jok slowly making their way to the academy. D'jok noticed the pair first and he looked at them as if something had broken inside of him; his face was a mask of sorrow, pain, anger...he was so unsure what to feel, he stared at Mei; even when she was in that state she was still so; beautiful to him.

"Tia!?" Rocket yelped, letting go of Mei and rushing to Tia.

"Rocket" Tia mumbled, she pulled at D'jok to let her go but he refused, his firm grip tightening on her elbow.

"Get away from her. You've caused enough trouble already" He snarled, eyes glinting. Rocket stepped back but persisted in asking Tia what had happened. "She almost got raped thanks to you" D'jok hissed.

"What?" Rocket faltered and stared at his ex in horror. "Tia I..."

"Rocket!" Tia sobbed reaching for him, but she was restrained yet again by D'jok.

"Let her go!" Rocket yelped.

"You bastard! Stop messing her around! You can only fucking have one of them! God what is your attraction to girl's that are going through stuff, you sick fuck! Leave Tia alone, it's your fault!" D'jok suddenly screamed, he stared at Mei through tearful eyes. "It's your fault about **everything**"

Everyone was silent, Tia stopped struggling, Rocket just stood blinking but Mei stepped forward.

"It's not Rocket's fault...it's mine" She said.

D'jok stared at her aghast, tears beginning to run down his cheeks.

_Ooh ouch, I think it was pretty obvious I haven't been writing BOAB for a while right? And it was so short! Well at any rate I hope you liked it :3 _


	17. Revelations

Bereavement of a Beauty

_Yay my exams are so near finished! Only two to go and none this week! This is the second to last chapter my friends. I'd like to finish this quite a while before the 3__rd__ season (I've seen a little bit of a spoiler and I just wanna say; they did __**not**__ handle you know what well!). Anyway the actually last chapter will be out soon...I hope you liked this chapter. Oh by the way this chapter is pretty Rocket and Tia heavy- you'll get what I mean_

_"It's not Rocket's fault...it's mine" She said._

After a few seconds of silence –interfered only by the rushing of the wind- D'jok stepped forward; this was still D'jok after all and so he still cared for Mei.

"What?" He croaked.

"Don't blame Rocket" Mei insisted.

"I..." D'jok faltered and his hand dropped; Tia immediately rushed to Rocket and hugged him hard. The dreadlocked midfielder's eyes however stayed fixed upon Mei.

"None of this is Rocket's fault...it's no one's fault but mine" Mei continued.

"No Mei" Rocket whispered softly, Tia extracted her head from his chest and looked up at him, hurt filled her eyes; she'd never heard Rocket use that tone with anyone other than her, her bottom lip trembled and slowly but surely she pulled herself away from the boy she loved and took a big step back...Rocket didn't even look at her, pain again stabbed at her heart.

"Yes" Mei said defiantly, she shook her head in: confusion, sadness, frustration? Even she didn't know. When would he get it? "Rocket...you...you don't love me"

Tia and D'jok stared at her wide-eyed. Rocket's mouth fell open and his eyes widened.

"Ye...yes I...do" He said, his voice cracking.

Tia let out a large sob and D'jok put his arm around her, not taking his eyes off of Mei.

"You may love me" Mei conceded. "But Rocket...you're not **in** love with me, you're in love with Tia"

Another strangled sob escaped Tia's shuddering body and D'jok's grip tightened around her shoulder. Rocket was silent; he looked confused and a little scared.

"Just because my life's so fucked up doesn't give me the right to screw up everyone else's" Mei exclaimed, she sounded angry but it was obvious to the three teens before her that the anger was directed towards herself and no one else. "Tia...I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry" Mei said; her voice grew higher and her eyes began filling up with tears that needed to fall. Tia just stared- small and fragile and so in love with Rocket- from beside D'jok, her large eyes startled.

"Mei" Rocket ventured over to her, arms outstretched.

"Stop saying my name!" Mei shouted. Didn't he get it!

Mei had realised that Rocket thought he was in control –put on the front that he was in control- but he was just as dependant as she was...she loved Rocket, he had been there for her, so now she was doing a service back- by trying to make him understand.

"Rocket you're **not** in love with me! You love Tia! As soon as you saw her you let go of me and rushed to her!"

_That was when Mei had realised. It had hit her what she had done by becoming so dependant and what had happened to Tia because she'd convinced Rocket they needed each other_

Rocket stumbled back looking confused and stunned, then he turned to look at Tia and finally the tears rushed into his eyes and finally a look of realisation passed his face.

"Tia...I'm...I'm so sorry" He whispered, he pressed his hand against his forehead and stared at her in horror.

Tia just looked back at him: it was hard for her; Tia loved Rocket but she also knew that once again she'd be running back to him simply because he'd said sorry...Everyone watched as she stood there silent.

"...Mei" She finally said, her gaze shifting to the now tired looking Mei. "Thank you"

"Don't thank me" Mei sighed. "Don't thank me when I wrecked your life and was a terrible friend"

Tia shook her head and -because it was the sort of person she was- pulling away from D'jok trudged towards Mei; she enveloped her in a hug- the one Mei really needed. All anger had flooded out of Tia in an instant.

"I don't blame you" The white-haired girl whispered. Mei tightened the hug as more tears began plummeting from her eyes.

"Are you angry at Rocket?" She whimpered; she sounded so pitiful- like a child asking why a father and mother were fighting.

"I'm not angry" Tia murmured back. "I can't ever get truly angry with him" Her voice cracked as once again she thought of her unfightable love for Rocket.

"I'm sorry" Mei sobbed as she remembered Tia was her rock. Tia had been the only one who attempted to act normally and Mei had responded by destroying her life.

"Shh" Tia whispered as she drew back from the hug and kissed her friend gently on the forehead. "I can fight my own battles and I know what I'm going to do. It's not your fault" Once again Tia's voice dropped to a whisper. "Rocket...hasn't been well recently...netherball still affects him...it affects our relationship...I'm not going to give up on him...he needs me...but I'm not sure that I'm prepared to plunge into a relationship with him again"

Mei sobbed loudly again. "I've split you two up" She choked. "You were so perfect for each other"

Tia smiled grimly. "We aren't" She sighed. "We really aren't. We've been having problems for a while now Mei- don't blame yourself"

Mei felt undeserving of such a great friend. Tia dealt with things behind the scenes and yet still managed to keep herself together. Tia detached herself from Mei and biting her lip walked over to Rocket.

"Rocket" Again her voice was cracking. "Rocket...I still love you; but a relationship is impossible after this unless you go and get help; you hurting yourself hurts me" Tears pooled from Tia's eyes as she pulled Rocket's sleeves up to reveal scars, hundreds of them, all up and down his arms. Mei gasped and Rocket looked at the floor. Mei couldn't believe that Tia and Rocket had managed to keep all this to themselves- the pressure must have been enormous.

Rocket looked back up at Tia, his face the most pitiful sight Mei had ever seen- she knew she was right however, Rocket needed someone strong, Tia was strong...Mei felt bad for burdening Rocket back on to her best friend, finally understanding how much Tia must love Rocket to be able to deal with all these problems.

"I love you Tia...I'm sorry" He murmured.

"Rocket I've always loved you and I've always forgiven you...and you know it" Tia replied back tiredly, the tears however were still fresh in her eyes. "Will you get help for yourself...for me?"

Rocket nodded his head quickly and Tia nodded back, she kissed him gently on the cheek, resigned to her fate as it were and then turned questionably to Mei.

"I'm...I'm going to leave" Mei whispered (answering Tia's unasked question). "For everyone's happiness I'm going to leave"

"What about me?"

She'd almost forgotten D'jok was there, but there he stood; his fists balled, anger and sorrow mish-mashed across his face.

"D'jok this is for the best" Mei whispered.

"Mei...I love you" D'jok whimpered- all anger leaving his face to be replaced by a tragic look.

"Then why didn't you visit?" Mei whispered- hurt punctuated every single syllable as Mei thought of her lost love. She looked up and with a pang saw the shame obvious upon his face. "I'm not blaming you...it was hard, I was hard and it's not your fault in anyway...but D'jok it's gone now...what we had"

But D'jok was having none of it. "You're being selfish!" He exclaimed, shame slipping off of his face and his green eyes (that Mei had once found so beautiful) lighting up with fire. "What about the team? You can't just leave now! You wrecked Tia and Rocket's lives and my life! You can't just leave without saying sorry!"

Mei understood D'jok- they'd dated for years- so she understood that his sorrow was being changed into anger because that way he felt safer. She met his eyes- those fiery green eyes.

"I am sorry D'jok, more sorry than you can imagine...but you abandoned me, why would I say sorry to you? I'm not trying to upset or hurt you..." She persisted as D'jok had looked down quickly. "I know you're sorry and I've forgiven you...but to make it truly up to me, let me go...please"

D'jok stared at the ground and his eyes once again began filling up with tears. "I'm sorry..."

Mei smiled. "It's not your fault...you know what? It's not even my fault...I'm not even going to blame my dad, it was a horrible accident which changed my life and now...I'm gonna deal with it...but not on this planet...because there's someone I've got to see"

* * *

Mei sat alone on the space ship as it flew towards Genesis Stadium- D'jok, Tia and Rocket had agreed to say nothing of where she'd gone and after a tearful goodbye she'd departed...to start a new life...it could perhaps be called running away and...Mei didn't care, she had to see someone, someone who had meant so much to her, someone who never stopped caring, never stopped loving her...

_I hope you liked this chapter. I personally felt there were maybe a few too many: ...'s? But that may just be me. R&R and don't worry. ALL loose ends will be tied up in the last chapter. Oh and by the way, there's still time to change the result on the poll! The main one that's winning right now is: Happy for some characters, sadness for others. So...But anyway please tell me what you think. Thank you _


	18. Endings

Bereavement of a Beauty

_So here we are! The last chapter. As I'm sitting here writing this while So What by Pink blasts into my ears I just want to say that I am so thankful to everyone who was read this...there will be proper thanks to __**everyone**__ who spared the time to review this story. I love you all and I hope this story meets your expectations. Peace and love, peace and love._

"_It's not your fault...you know what? It's not even my fault..." _

A flurry of doubt hit Mei hard as she began making her way towards the giant construction that was Genesis Stadium...she had no idea in what department Danzee would be working and she still couldn't shake the slightest niggle that perhaps Danzee had left of her own accord and maybe just wanted the troubled family that was the Kilas' out of her life.

But...then she remembered how Danzee had said she loved her and Mei knew that people who loved each other (in any kind of way) would never abandon each other, a flash of Tia and Rocket flicked into the teen's mind.

Finally Mei was at the front desk of the gigantic football stadium that took up most of Genesis. The man at the desk looked up.

"Yes?" He asked importantly. "This isn't the ticket booking area you know"

"I know" Mei croaked. "I...I..."

The man stared at her suspiciously from under his glasses. "Have you been drinking madam?" He enquired as his hand crept to his holo-watch.

"No!" Mei squeaked defensively. Aware that this man was 'normal' and she was not. "I'm here to enquire about a worker here?"

"The customer complaints desk is just down the hall" The man stated quickly, he pointed down the long hallway.

"It's not a complaint!" Mei protested.

"Then what on **earth** do you want!" The man demanded.

"TO SEE DANZEE!" Mei yelled back, the man jumped back in shock and looked worriedly at the teen before him.

"Danzee? You mean the janitor?" He asked in cautious, hushed tones.

This information hit Mei with a pang...her wonderful maid and friend had been forced to find a job as a janitor at one of the dirtiest stadiums in the galaxy.

"Yes" She replied confidently.

"Why?" The man asked in confusion.

"Just get her here, please?" Mei begged in exasperation.

"She's not here today, she's at home" The man said.

"Can I have her address?" Mei whispered.

The man obviously spotted something desperate in her eyes and so wrote Danzee's address onto a scrap piece of paper. Mei snatched it and bolted out to grab a hover taxi immediately.

* * *

The sound of the doorbell ringing reverberated around Mei's skull so loudly she felt like her head was going to burst open.

Then the door opened and there was Danzee; there were dark circles around her eyes and she'd lost all her curves, she looked bony, slight and most of all **ill**.

"Danzee?" Mei whispered in disbelief.

Danzee's large brown eyes (still so familiar and comforting to Mei) were stretched in shock, her mouth open in surprise.

"M...mistress?" She ventured.

"I'm not your mistress anymore Danzee" Mei choked out after a moment of silence.

"But..." Danzee grasped her forehead and leant against the door frame, a pang of worry shot through Mei as she realised Danzee **really** was not well.

"Wha...what're you doing here?" Danzee continued. Her forehead wrinkled in confusion.

At these words Mei felt horrified- Danzee wanted to be free of Mei and her troubles! What did she think she was doing? Invading/upsetting Danzee's new life. With these thoughts swimming around in her head Mei was silent; her eyes were watery and to her distaste she felt her bottom lip quivering; what right did she have to come and make Danzee feel guilty? To remind her of the pain and stress she'd suffered with Mei? For Danzee's sake the teen sniffed loudly and wiped her eyes quickly.

"J...just popping in" She replied stiffly before turning to leave.

"...Your hair's grown"

Mei turned to look at Danzee; it was true- Mei's hair was shoulder length now, somehow the back had caught up with the front and it was all equal. She often tied it up in a ponytail now because she just couldn't be bothered...and because she was used to it.

"It...has" She agreed. A ghost of a smile flickering over her face. "Your hairs shorter" The teen gestured at Danzee's now chin length brown hair.

"I missed you" Danzee suddenly blurted. The words tumbling out in a mess of emotion.

Mei's eyes widened and she stared at Danzee- who had just said what she'd been hoping for since she'd arrived upon Genesis.

"I know it sounds stupid..." Danzee muttered.

"I missed you too" Mei whimpered- she was worried she was going to break down into happy tears due to the pure exhilaration running through her.

"I really, really didn't want to leave but...your dad" Danzee stuttered and for the first time Mei saw someone as young and as innocent as she. The teen's expression darkened.

"What?" She asked, venom obvious in her tone- so clearly filled with anger towards her father. Mei didn't blame her father for her mother's death, or for her own descent into depression, but the thought of her father hurting the one woman who had been there for all it...was a true crime in Mei's eyes.

"I...Mei you're here now...can we not talk about it?"

Sensing the desperation in Danzee's voice, Mei nodded. Danzee smiled in return.

"Are you still playing football?" She asked.

Mei couldn't help but smile at the absurdity of the question.

"No...a lot changed since you left" She muttered.

"Tell me?" Danzee implored.

Mei nodded.

* * *

Once Mei had finished telling her story on Danzee's comfy couch the older woman had tears in her eyes.

"At least there was a reason for me to worry" She quipped.

"You shouldn't have worried...you did all you could for me" Mei reprimanded- trying to hide the pain she felt at knowing Danzee had been worrying.

"I couldn't help it" Danzee shrugged. "I literally worried myself sick" She tugged at her limp hair. Mei pulled her into a hug.

"What are you going to do now?" Danzee asked as she pulled out of the hug.

"I don't know...I'm not going back to Akillian or playing football ever again though" Mei shrugged.

Danzee was silent for a moment as she picked at the fraying cover on her sofa.

"Mei you know you're always welcome to stay with me..." She mumbled.

"Oh Danzee" Mei whimpered. "I couldn't possibly put so much bother on your..." Suddenly the teen burst into tears- all the incidents had come to head and had suddenly burst out of her in an emotional tidal wave.

"I want you to stay here, Mei. Because you're my friend" Danzee whispered as Mei's head hit her lap and she began stroking her hair.

* * *

The alarm shrieked loudly and awoke Mei with a start. Nowadays it was the alarm that awoke her- not horrible nightmares...Mei had been living with Danzee for up to four years now and slowly but surely all the hurt and pain had been soothed out of her, Mei felt it was like a deadly poison had been sucked out of her.

The years had been hard but they'd got better. Two weeks after Mei had left Akillian forever she'd received the news that her father had hanged himself. Mei was sad- she wasn't sad however at his death (and she felt immense guilt at this) no she was sad that her and her father had ended things on bad terms, she was sad that her father hadn't been strong enough and she was sad that her father hadn't had someone like Danzee to help him through the pain.

Mei stood up and padded to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She heard the chorus of: "Snowkids! Snowkids!" as she reached for her toothbrush. Pausing she turned to the window. She still sometimes missed the team and her friends.

The only person she was still in contact with was Tia who had informed her that she and Rocket were together but taking it slow. Tia admitted that it wasn't perfect and sometimes she wished it was easier but occasionally she'd get a glimpse of the old Rocket, **her **Rocket and she'd vowed to never give up.

Also, according to Tia: D'jok hadn't taken Mei's leaving well and looked moody and depressed a lot of the time, but apparently he had told Tia he wasn't going to try and find Mei...because he didn't want to go through anymore pain- this hit Mei in the heart; she was upset that she had made someone's life unhappy, especially someone who had meant so much to her at one point- but she knew that getting back together with D'jok wouldn't solve any of hers or his problems and would just hurt him more in the long run. But still...sometimes she longed for the times when she'd been able to fall into his arms, she missed those memories when things had been simple; but things weren't simple anymore and D'jok had hurt her...Mei shook her head shaking the upsetting thoughts -that would probably plague her the rest of her life- out of her head for the moment.

Still it was strange to think the Snowkids would be playing in the GF cup without her; but she was glad they'd gotten into the final 16 again.

* * *

The football craze had been going on in Genesis for two weeks the day the doorbell rang:

Danzee and Mei had just been watching the Lightnings vs The Wambas match (which surprisingly the Wamba's had won- though Mei had noted Warren had retired).

Danzee stood up and headed for the door and Mei smiled as she noted yet again that Danzee had filled out and was looking the picture of health nowadays- since Mei had started living with her.

Settling down Mei took a handful of popcorn from the bowl in front of her and popped one in her mouth, but she was interrupted by Danzee calling her name.

Standing up, Mei proceeded to pad to the door to join Danzee and then proceeded to gasp out loud when she saw...Sinedd.

Danzee quickly slipped away but not before giving Mei a comforting pat on the arm. Then she was gone and it was Mei and Sinedd standing opposite each other.

Sinedd's once youthful face looked older and more mature, but the fire within his onyx eyes was still there and there was still a definite sense of arrogance and cockiness surrounding him.

Mei stared at him confusion as he –at the same time- stared at her in wonder; Mei was plumper than the last time he'd seen her, her hair was shoulder length and wavy, and her skin had a natural glow to it- thought it was still pale and milky.

They stood in silence for a few minutes before Mei opened her mouth.

"Sin..."

But Sinedd interrupted her. "You left" He mumbled. There was no accusation in his voice and not even a hint of sorrow but for some reason Mei felt the need to explain herself.

"I had to get away" She garbled.

"You **ran** away" Sinedd replied- his dark eyes penetrating deep into hers.

Mei couldn't look into those eyes- too many memories came flooding back; of the cold icy tarmac on Akillian.

"I'm...sorry" She whispered.

"I think I loved you"

Mei looked up in shock. Sinedd had said it so casually and Mei still couldn't read any semblance of hurt upon his face. It was a fact and he had stated it as so.

"I don't love you now...I'm sure of that...but it still kinda confused me when you left...I suppose, it hurt" Sinedd continued.

Mei blinked.

"I thought at the very least...we were friends" He explained.

"We were...are" Mei stuttered.

Sinedd looked down and let a disbelieving smirk slip onto his face. "We're friends are we? Just like that? After all these years?"

Mei didn't know how to reply- Sinedd had every right to be mad at her; she'd asked for advice and pestered him and weighed him down with her problems and he had helped, and in return she'd left. Mei felt tears welling in her eyes. Jeez she was **crap** at being grateful to people who'd helped her.

"Well?"

Mei looked up in confusion. She was shocked to see a little hope apparent upon Sinedd's face. Mei stared at him, startled.

"You...you want to be friends with me?" She choked out.

"I've had four years to think this over" Sinedd replied dryly. "For some reason, yes, I do"

Mei swept her arms around one of the few people who could identify with her situation and this time...he didn't push her away- because they were friends.

And through this friendship Mei could see all was forgiven and that included her mother...who hadn't been the perfect mum in the world but in Mei's eyes had been the perfect mum for her..._No more guilt_ Mei thought, squeezing her eyes shut..._Mum's proud of me. _

_And that's it! I'm sorry to all you D'jok- Mei fans; I'm a fan of that pairing too, but in this fic it just wouldn't have worked out- so sorry! The end result on the poll was that you wanted some people to have happy endings and some to have sad, in the end (as I'm too nice) I could only give two people sad endings: Mei's dad and D'jok. Sorry! I hope this ending chapter wasn't disappointing and I hope the end wasn't too cheesy. Thanks for sticking with me to the end. I love you all, so, so, so much and without your feedback this fic wouldn't have been possible! My next feature length serious fic will be out after Galactik Football season 3 and will be a Mei- Tia friendship one (from now on most of my serious long fics will have Mei in them as the main character or as an important character, what can I say? I love the girl now!)- I hope you'll read that too! So anyway thank you again...jeez I dunno how to end this...goodbye! And thank you, for your reviews! MUCH appreciated. _


End file.
